The most concise explanation of how marriage equality threatens the institution of marriage

…comes from James Sweet, in a comment on Dispatches: For some people, marriage is still an institution that is defined by proscribed roles. The man has certain rights and responsibilities (mostly the former), and the woman has certain rights and responsibilities (mostly the latter), and these are handed down by […]

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10 ways the opposition to gay marriage insults all of us

What I didn’t mention in the previous post about the purpose of marriage, because I intended to discuss it in this post, is that marriage currently serves– for many people, at least– the purpose of cementing gender roles. The single biggest fear of gay marriage opponents honestly seems to be […]

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Look at you, all flaunting your autonomy

Women are not entitled to respect when they walk around without a [hijab]. They are to blame for it when they are attacked. said an imam from Denmark, Shahid Mehdi, who was arrested in Malmo, Sweden for reportedly exposing himself to a woman in a park. When I read about this, […]

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Thoughts on the first Tropes vs. Women video

So the first Feminist Frequency Tropes vs. Women video has been posted, and I was very excited to see it. I was not disappointed. If you haven’t seen it yet, have a watch: What we have here is a thorough, polished bit of media analysis with obvious effort and expense […]

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Sexy old lady

Credit: http://www.tomandlorenzo.com/ I don’t generally do this, but I just want to write a blog post to gush about another blog post– this one, by Greta Christina, about an episode of Project Runway in which the contestants, fashion designers, were asked to design an outfit for an older female client. Now, […]

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We saw your tortured discussion about sex and humor

Mockery, generally speaking, is a punishment. Right? We admire people who can laugh at themselves, but generally don’t expect them to when they’re the butt of a joke, unless they actually did something stupid and/or wrong. If wrong, you can take a “my bad” approach and mock yourself as a […]

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Gross

“To escape criticism: do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.” — Elbert Hubbard“To escape criticism for being a woman: don’t be a woman.” — Me

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Quote of the day

From a site not fond of male feminism Misogyny-hurts-men-too edition: I’m a guy, and I need feminism. Not “men’s rights.” Feminism. Here is why. Everything that MRAs talk about that men can’t do or are socially punished for arise directly and immediately from misogyny. Not “misandry.” Misogyny. Whether I am expressing my […]

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Forward Thinking: What Would You Tell Teenagers About Sex?

Libby Anne and Dan Finke at Patheos have started a project called Forward Thinking, which is a series of questions they put to bloggers to encourage them to think productively. The replies to these questions are then rounded up and a new prompt posted. This will be my first crack […]

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Women who reject their own freedom

I’ll admit– I’m still surprised when I hear an anti-feminist argument coming from a woman. Women who don’t just reject the label of “feminist” but are actually opposed to specific freedoms for womankind, forcefully opposed, take me aback. I don’t understand how someone could want to be less free, and […]

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